Ferguson said: “We tried to buy him from Southampton and they turned us down. It was not the boy who turned us down, it was Southampton, then a few weeks later he signed for Tottenham.

“It happens. You don’t get them all. As I said before, we would have loved to have got Gascoigne but we didn’t.

“But we did get Paul Ince and he was a great player for us. These things happen.”

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Jermain man: Fergie is wary of Defoe

After losing 3-2 at Old Trafford to Spurs in September, Ferguson knows his stars will be in for another serious test today, with Jermain Defoe an ­obvious threat.

Ferguson added: “He has had an incredible season with goals for them. Even when Emmanuel Adebayor signed from Manchester City, Andre Villas-Boas never played him.

“He kept playing Defoe and it has given the boy confidence. Now Adebayor is away at the African Nations, but they have Dempsey and other good options.

“We know that Bale and Lennon have got pace, Defoe has pace. Dembele is a good footballer. It is straightforward – we have to ­perform, but it’s been a good ground for us in the past.

“It’s an important game ­because this is a period of the season that if we can keep our momentum­ ­going, we have got home games against Everton and ­Southampton in the next few weeks.

“These are really big ­opportunities for us.”

Roberto Mancini ­believes his Manchester City title-holders will have an ­advantage when the Champions League begins again next month.

But Ferguson said: “The way to look at it is that we’ve got great games coming up. It’s ­really ­exciting going to Madrid and them coming here, then there’s the FA Cup tie at home to Fulham.

With almost all of his stars fit, Fergie admits he faces a huge ­selection ­dilemma – with Wayne Rooney, Shinji Kagawa, Javier Hernandez and Danny Welbeck all vying to support Robin van Persie. He said: “I don’t think it is easy to pick a team as we have a big squad. The days of just putting a team up on the notice board are gone, it is here anyway.